Sorry if this is posted earlier. From CNET.
Unisys to release "NT
mainframe"
By Michael Kanellos
December 2, 1997, 10:30 a.m. PT
Unisys will next year release what it calls a
"mainframe for NT," a powerful server that
incorporates 32 Intel processors and may herald
the use of Microsoft's Windows NT operating
system on powerful server computers at large
corporations.
The company's 1998 server plans, which also
include 8- and 12-processor systems, revolve
around a grander strategy of making Unisys a
linchpin for taking NT and servers based on Intel
chips further up the corporate computing food
chain, according to Leo Daiuto, group vice
president and general manager of the company's
enterprise server division.
Although NT is gaining in popularity in corporate
environments, the operating system can't be used
for the most complex database applications, which
continue to be run on Unix or legacy systems.
Typically, NT is used on lower-level servers that
work with one or two processors. Unisys's plan is
to use its Unix and mainframe expertise as well as
its extensive service force in the creation of a larger,
and more powerful, NT server than most vendors
can offer.
Unisys will also engage in extensive
cross-marketing and technological exchange
programs with both Microsoft and Intel as part of
this effort, he said. About 2,000 Unisys engineers
will be certified on NT while the company seeks
approval for its complex server designs from Intel.
(Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer
Network.)
"To drive this market, we are partnering with Intel
and Microsoft," Daiuto said. "Most of our
customers can't [yet] migrate their high-end
operations to NT."
Unisys's most daunting ambition in this area will be
the 32-processor server based on its upcoming
ServerPlus Cellular Multi-Processing (CMP)
technology.
"It's a mainframe for NT," Daiuto explained. The
server will use both the Pentium II processor and
Intel's 64-bit Merced processors due in 1999.
Under its CMP technology, the 32-processor
server will be able to function as one server using
shared memory or as four separate eight-processor
servers clustered together. Under the clustering
configuration, each of the server units can use
different operating systems. Two units, for instance,
can be running NT while two run Unix, he said.
CMP, if successful, will set standards for both
multiprocessing--which involves tying
microprocessors together to run a single
application--and clustering, which involves stringing
together processors running different applications in
a way to increase efficiency.
Eventually, the clustered computing units will be
able to share and distribute computing tasks.
Known informally as "load balancing," this is a
capability of Unix servers, but not NT machines.
Servers based on the CMP architecture will go into
beta testing in the first quarter next year and come
out at the end of 1998 or early in 1999.
Unisys will also be releasing its own architecture for
handling data flow in and out of such devices as
hard drives, called Input/Output or I/O. Its
Enterprise I/O will be released in the second
quarter of 1998.
The technology is to be similar but more powerful
than the analogous I2O specification released by
Intel earlier this year. Under both architectures, a
processor is dedicated to control data input and
output, which alleviates the computing burden of the
main processors.
Like CMP, Unisys will sell its I/O technology to
other manufacturers under OEM agreements. "No
one has signed yet," Daiuto said, but the company
is in discussions with major manufacturers.
In the meantime, Unisys will release a 12-processor
Pentium Pro server in the first quarter and a
eight-processor Pentium II server based on the
Profusion architecture Intel acquired when it bought
Corollary earlier this year.
These developments, if successful, will give Unisys
a leading edge position in NT servers, but there
exists skepticism on how great the demand for them
will be.
"How many people who need it need it bad enough
to justify the costs?" asked Amir Ahari, server
analyst with International Data Corporation.
For the most part, customers are using NT servers
for local, departmental functions, he said, not
complex applications or even functions that push
the limits of NT's powers. A number of
manufacturers, for instance, sell NT systems
capable of four-way symmetric multiprocessing.
Applications exist which can take advantage of four
processors on NT as well. Yet, most of these
servers are not sold with four processors.
"If you look at the history of Unisys, they are
somewhat different," Ahari said. "They are trying to
be one step ahead of the pack."
Clayton |
